BLACK SEA – Petty Officer 3rd Class Samantha Selvidge, a native of Huntsville, serves aboard the USS Porter, a guided-missile destroyer.

Currently, the vessel is operating in the Black Sea and is homeported in Rota, Spain.

Having served two years in the Navy, Selvidge works as a hull maintenance technician. She is responsible for maintaining hull structures and piping components using various welding and brazing processes.

“We do all the metal work necessary to keep all types of shipboard structures and surfaces in good condition, such as installing, maintaining and repairing valves, piping, ship’s sanitation, plumbing system fittings and fixtures,” Selvidge said.

“I like all the different skills that I’ve learned,” Selvidge said. “From firefighting, to welding two pieces of metal together, every day I enhance my level of knowledge in different areas. That’s something I couldn’t get outside the Navy.”

Selvidge graduated from Hazel Green High School in 2018 and joined the Navy to travel the world and align with new surroundings.

“I did Navy JROTC for four years, so joining the actual Navy seemed like a great idea,” Selvidge said. “My grandfather, uncle and two brothers-in-law previously served in the military, and I look up to every single one of them who was inspired to do the same thing.”

“I learned that being competitive is a good thing and constantly striving to do better will get you far,” Selvidge said.

Selvidge has earned the Enlisted Surface Warfare Specialist pin, an insignia given to enlisted personnel who are trained and qualified to perform duties aboard ships. “It took a lot of sacrifice of sleep, working out or just relaxing to get that pin,” she said.

“Serving in the Navy means setting aside your own life to take on the adventure of traveling the world, experiencing new things, sailing into harm’s way when need be, learning your job along with everyone else’s and laying down my life for the ones I love, if I have to,” Selvidge said.

“You’re always going to work with people you don’t like or not always enjoy what you’re doing,” Selvidge added. “You have bad days and then you have even worse days, but being a part of the U.S. military and getting to say that I helped defend my own country are worth it.”

The Media Outreach Department with the Navy Office of Community Outreach in Millington, Tenn. produces these profiles. Rick Burke researched this article. For more information, visit outreach.navy.mil, Facebook/Navy Outreach, Twitter @NavyOutreach or Instagram @US_Navy_Outreach.